Prosecutors probe Bologna toxic waste claims

(ANSA) - Bologna, November 17 - Bologna prosecutors on Monday seized a reportage by RAI Channel 3 investigative news program Report in connection with a probe into an alleged toxic waste spill by the Hera Group, an Italian multi-utility firm.
    The report that aired Sunday could be of help to investigators, sources said.
    The case, which began earlier this year, stems from a claim by construction company Cogefer that land it contracted to buy from Hera on Bologna's Viale Berti Pichat is contaminated.
    Cogefer reportedly signed a contract to buy the land for 32 million euros two years ago to build a hotel, offices, parking lots and a park.
    The firm backed out of the contract, then filed suit claiming it had been swindled into the purchase without being forewarned that the land needed an extensive environmental cleanup.
    Hera countered with a libel suit, rejecting allegations that highly carcinogenic substances are buried under the 60,000-square-meter lot.
    The area is "being constantly monitored, both for the health and safety of those working and transiting through, and in terms of environmental quality," the company said in a statement.
    Established in 2002, Hera was born a merger of 11 public utilities in the Emilia Romagna region. It was listed on the Milan stock exchange and partially privatized the following year.